Bravo Zulu!
Bravo Zulu to all of you last week for incredible work in student lead conferences before the break. I sat in on a few at and was impressed by the caring and thoughtful approaches I saw taken by staff to support students in accounting for the work and learning they had accomplished. Additionally parent engagement and student enthusiasm was observed at both sites, which is at the heart of what we are trying to achieve in SLCs. Special appreciation goes to Kay Greenberg, Kristie Powers, Richard Taylor and Katy Stone each of whom I saw all or part of your conferences with kids and their family last week. Nice work everyone!Instructional Point: SLCs: Subtlety in Student Self-Evaluation.
How many times in class do your students self-evaluate their work and learning toward the Teaching Point? Sometimes this is done in the most overt ways where we explicitly plan for and ask students to look at their learning for the day and evaluate “what they got”, or identify what they may still be struggling with. It is good practice to work this into your daily plan and in the more broad scope of a completed unit. I am interested this week in how we more subtly do this through the course of a period.
Could the simple phrasing of a question for a turn and talk, for instance, elicit the meta-cognition we are hoping for? What would that question look like? We can ask students to talk about word problem, experiment or a reading at hand, which is descriptive, or we can ask them to tell their peers what they think or feel about the problem. At first, asking students what they think or feel may seem soft, or not focused on content, but at many levels such pre-planned questioning opens the door to reflection, relevance and even prediction in student talk about their learning.
In your planning, try to push student thinking into another tier which relates the task, explicitly to what kids are learning, personally. Our posed questions to students can force, albeit subtly, student self-evaluation and reflection. It’s a good muscle for students use, and careful planning can give them more opportunities to use it.
The Week Ahead…
As stated earlier, this week begins Power Session for New Start which blocks students into extended classes wrapped around themes for giving back to the community and helping others, very appropriate for the coming holiday season. At CHOICE (Currently embroiled in their own Food Drive) we have at least two evening events. First, the Parent Student Organization (CHOICE PSO) meets Wednesday. And Thursday is our first Information night of the year, for community and those families interested in applying to CHOICE for start in the Fall 2012. PCT will be an all staff discussion on district Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation policy. Please join us in the Math Room at Salmon Creek, Friday, Dec. 2 at 12:30. My Schedule:
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
New Start/CHOICE | New Start/CHOICE | NS/ ERAC / CH | New Start/CHOICE | New Start |
Nov 28 | Nov 29 | Nov 30 | Dec 1 | Dec 2 |
NS Morning Meeting CH Application Meeting | Planning Time NS AP Meeting CHOICE Student Intake Meeting | NS In Classes District RTI planning CHOICE PSO Meeting | NS New Staff Intake Meeting EGP Training CHOICE Info Night | PBIS Meeting M/ Kati S Becca Updates PCT at New Start |
Have a great week!
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